Meet the new face of inaction

May 2, 2014

We now have another face to put on the House of Representatives' inaction on immigration reform:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

He told President Obama that House Republicans will not consider the Senate's comprehensive immigration reform bill, claiming that "House Republicans do not support Senate Democrats' immigration bill," while still saying, "there are other issues where we can find common ground, build trust, and get America working again."

He's wrong on a couple facts—for one, the Senate bill was passed with a bipartisan majority supporting it. And several House Republicans have come forward in favor of comprehensive reform.

In fact, Speaker Boehner just reiterated the need to get the job done—mocking his colleagues who are afraid to work on reform.

We believe we have enough votes right now to pass comprehensive reform, if House leadership would just hold a vote.

When Leader Eric Cantor says the House should be focusing on something that will create jobs and improve the economy, maybe he didn't get the memo about comprehensive immigration reform. According to the Center for American Progress, the Senate's immigration reform bill would create 121,000 jobs a year for the next decade, and boost the economy by more than $800 billion. Passing this bill would result in exactly the kind of economic boost Leader Cantor agrees we need.